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This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places and events are the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously.
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Table of Contents
An Excerpt from A Deadly Distance (Jack Noble #2)
About the Author
Copyright Page
Jack Noble Series in Order
Noble Beginnings
A Deadly Distance
Thin Line
Noble Intentions Season One
Noble Intentions Season Two
Noble Intentions Season Three
Never Go Home (Jack Noble)
Beyond Betrayal (Clarissa Abbot Thriller)
Noble Intentions Season Four - Coming Soon
Chapter 1
Baghdad, Iraq. March, 2002
I leaned back against a weathered stone wall. Muffled voices slipped through the cracked door. The night air felt cool against my sweat-covered forehead. A light breeze carried with it the smell of raw sewage. Orange tinted smoke from a distant fire rose high into the sky. Wisps of smoke streaked across the full moon ahead of the mass of artificial cloud cover, threatening to block the moonlight I used to keep watch over the sleepy street while the CIA special operations team did their job inside the house. The smart team leaders kept me involved. The dumb ones left me outside to guard the entrance.
Eight years on the job. Best gig I ever had. Then Bin Laden attacked the U.S. Forty-eight hours later everything had changed. Most teams were deployed to Afghanistan. Bear and I were sent to Iraq. We’d spent six months raiding houses just like this one inside and on the outskirts of Baghdad. And just like tonight, we were kept outside the house.
The only connection we had with the Marine Corps was the ten Marines over here with us. We only saw them a couple times a week. I had no idea where the rest of our Marine brethren were, and I didn’t care. They didn’t consider us Marines any more than we considered them brethren.
“Jack?” Bear said.
Bear had been my partner and best friend since our last day of recruit training. A recruit training experience cut four weeks short.
“Yeah,” I said.
“I’m tired of this.”
I turned my head, keeping my M16 aimed forward. Bear stared out into the distance. The faint orange glow of the fire cloud reflected off the sheen of sweat across his face.
“They just keep us posted outside,” he said. “Ain’t never treated us like this.”
I shrugged. He was right. But there was nothing we could do about it. Bear and I were on loan to the CIA and had to do whatever we were told. Before 9/11, we were part of the team. But the CIA agents we normally worked with stayed behind in the U.S. and Europe. The teams over here weren’t used to having two Marines with them and they weren’t receptive to the idea.
“What do you suggest we do?” I said. “Quit?”
Bear shook his head and straightened his six foot six body. He shifted his M16 in his hands and walked toward the end of the house. Beyond his large frame I spotted a group of men. Figured that was why Bear went on high alert.
There were six of them huddled together. They spoke in whispers and appeared to look in our direction. Another three men walked toward the group. From this distance they didn’t appear to be armed, but they had the cover of night on their side. Best to assume they were prepared to wreak havoc on our position.
“What do you make of that?” I asked.
Bear looked back at me with narrowed eyes and a clenched jaw.
“Trouble.”
Trouble lingered everywhere in this damn city. No one trusted us here. Every time I turned a corner I worried someone would be standing there waiting to take me out. The only person I could trust in Iraq was Bear. The CIA spec ops teams we’d been attached to looked down on us. They all seemed to be waiting for the right moment to drop us. Hell, for all I knew, they were inside that house negotiating our arrest.
Bear cleared his throat and then pointed toward the group. The nine men fanned out and began approaching our position. The sound of their voices rose from a murmur to light chatter. I made out distinct sounds. Despite being in Iraq for the past six months, I had a weak grasp on the language.
“What are they saying?” I asked.
Bear held up his hand, fingers outstretched. He cocked his head like he was looking up at the moon. His body crouched into a defensive position. The barrel of the M16 rose to waist level. He reached out with his left hand to support the heavy gun. I did the same. We both preferred the M16A3 because of its fully automatic firing capabilities in addition to single shot and semi-automatic options. The A3 was a much better option for security teams than the Marine standard issue A4. We could drop the entire group of men in under five seconds if we chose to do so.
“Talk to me, Bear,” I said.
He took three slow steps back, blocking my view of part of the street. He yelled something in Arabic.
The group stopped their advance. One man stepped forward. His tall, gangly body stood out from the short stocky men in the group. He lifted his arms, a handgun clutched in his right hand. I tensed and tapped my finger against the M16’s trigger. The harsh sounds of words spoken in Arabic filled the air. They echoed through the street. Then silence penetrated.
Bear turned to look at me, then smiled, then looked back at the men. He shouted in Arabic again and lifted his M16 to his shoulder.
The tall Iraqi raised his arms once again. He had put his gun away. He turned his back to us, said something to the group of men and started walking away. The mob held their positions for a moment. The tall man pushed past them. He spoke in an authoritative tone, his voice rising to a yell. They turned and followed him. A few looked back over their shoulders in our direction.
I exhaled loudly. Cool, calm and collected when others would panic. Now, however, I felt my hands trembling slightly. A deep breath reset me to normal. It was a typical sequence of events.
“Christ, Bear. What the hell was that about?”
He chuckled. “I think they’re on our side, Jack.”
“What makes you think that?” I used my sleeve to wipe a layer of cold sweat from my brow.
His smile widened. “They didn’t shoot.”
“What did you say to them… ah, forget it. You’re a crazy SOB. You know that, right?”
He shrugged, ignoring me and scanning darkened windows.
I leaned back against wall, joined him. “You think this is what Keller had in mind when he shipped us off to the CIA?”
I had kept in touch with General Keller since he took us out of recruit training and placed us into the CIA sponsored program some eight years ago. I knew this was not what he had in mind.
Bear said, “Beats what we’d be doing otherwise.”
I threw my head back and nodded over my shoulder toward the door. “You sure about that?”
Bear shrugged. His big head shook
slightly. He wiped his face and then looked at me.
“I’m not sure of much anymore, Jack. This is what I know. They ship us somewhere. We do our job. Pretty simple.”
I nodded. It was pretty simple. Eight years now and we knew the routine. We do our job. Only here, our job had been castrated down to nothing but a security detail while they did the work that would get the glory. Hopefully they’d get it soon and ship us back to the U.S.
We stood in silence. I stared at the orange glow of the cloud that covered half the sky.
“Noble. Logan.”
The voice ripped through the air like a mortar arcing over our heads. The door whipped open. Bealle stood in the doorway.
“We need you two inside.”
I turned to face Eddie Bealle, fourth man on the totem pole of the four man CIA spec ops team. “We’re ready to go, Bealle.”